Portugal
Colombia: Constitutional Court declares articles 66, 67 and 68 of Law No 2195/2022 unconstitutional
On March 27th Colombia’s Constitutional Court issued a press release, in connection with the D-14851 process, declaring the unconstitutionality of articles 66 (incentives relating to leniency programs) and 67 and 68 (new sanctioning regime) of Law No 2195/2022, due to vices during the legislative process of said law.Spain: This is the Royal Decree that aims to improve air quality and reduce episodes of high pollution
Royal Decree 34/2023 of January 24, 2023, amending the royal decree on improving air quality, the regulations on industrial emissions and on implementing the Law on integrated pollution prevention and control, and the royal decree on financial guarantees concerning waste, introduces significant environment-related amendments.Portugal - Simplex: relevant news, mainly in the environmental and energy areas
Decree-Law 11/2023, of 10 February (DL 11/2023) was published on 10 February, approving measures to simplify existing licensing, namely through the elimination of authorisations, licences, dispensable or redundant acts and procedures in relation to the protection of environmental issues, thus facilitating economic activity without compromising environmental protection.Member States must assess the environmental impact of urban development projects on places of historical, cultural or archaeological significance, according to the Advocate General of the CJEU
The Opinion of the Advocate General of the CJEU regarding an urban development project in the historical center of Vienna could create a new line of European case law that provides greater protection for historical, cultural or archaeological heritage.Spain: Advances in the reform that will require certain companies to calculate and prepare a reduction plan for their carbon footprint
On December 13 the public information period ends for the bill amending Royal Decree 163/2014, creating the carbon footprint, offsetting and CO2 absorption projects register. The measures introduced by the proposed wording include the registration of so-called scope 3 emissions continuing to be voluntary for small and medium-sized companies.Freight rail projects in Colombia: Here are the risk allocation principles
In recent years rail projects in Colombia have received a boost, in an attempt to reduce costs and times in logistics chains, among other benefits brought by a reactivation of the sector. This led to new legislation on a range of topics. In this article we describe the characteristics of the contractual risk policy for freight rail projects and their distribution. We also provide an overview of the rail projects currently in progress.The U.S. Government requests consultations with Mexico under USMCA on measures affecting the energy sector
Following a series of reforms in the Mexican energy sector implemented by the current administration, the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has submitted a request for consultations with the Mexican government pursuant to Articles 31.2 and 31.4 of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).Counter-reform of Mexican electricity system in the spotlight: state of play
The electricity system has been a big focus point in Mexico in recent years and is now attracting attention after the government’s attempt to implement changes (particularly the sought constitutional reform). This article describes the state of play, arranged in the order of events.Circular economy: what is it and how could it benefit Latin America?
The circular economy presents itself as an alternative to the current production and consumption model. It is built around the aim to decouple economic activity from consumption of finite resources and to transition to the use of renewable energy sources. And the goal of this economic concept intertwined with sustainability is resource efficiency by turning one person's waste into another's resource. In this article we look at where Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru stand regarding the circular economy.